Some thirty key players from the North and Far North regions met in Maroua on March 12 and 13, 2025, to understand the challenges facing the Network for the Promotion of Agroecology in Cameroon (NEPAC) and to lay the foundations for the Sahelian zone.
The Network for the Promotion of Agroecology in Cameroon (NEPAC) was created in November 2023 to promote and support the development of agroecology in Cameroon. The platform, made up of civil society organizations for which the Support Service for Local Development Initiatives ( SAILD) provides the technical secretariat, continues to take action to this end. These include the organization of the first Regional Forum on Agroecology (FORA) in November 2024.
NEPAC held a workshop in Maroua to extend its visibility and actions in the Sahelian part of the country. Opened by the Far-North regional delegation for agriculture, the meeting introduced stakeholders in Cameroon’s Sahel (North and Far-North regions) to NEPAC’s creation process, as well as its major actions formulated during FORA. Participants included growers, organization members, government officials, civil society and the media.
Indeed, the creation of REPAC follows two major activities. According to the SAILD-Maroua Branch Manager, “it all began in 2022 with an analysis of the mapping of agroecology players and practices in Cameroon carried out by SAILD. It showed that the actors involved in promoting agroecology were scattered, with the result that energies were dispersed and intervention zones poorly meshed”, said Bouba Lomnala. “In the same year, the NGO conducted an analysis of the legal, political and institutional framework for agroecology in Cameroon. Both studies revealed the limits of agroecology in the country”, explained Rodrigue Kouang, coordinator of REPAC’s technical secretariat.
A range of issues conducive to the expansion of agroecology
“The platform’s main challenges are to promote and support the development of agroecology in Cameroon through collaboration, advocacy, research, awareness-raising, experience-sharing, education and support for areas in transition; to build the capacities of its members; and to influence public policy and stakeholders in favor of agroecology,” he continued.
Group work also helped to identify the priority areas, challenges and needs of the Sahel regions in terms of promoting agroecology. At the end of the exercise, a number of key ideas were identified: increased popularization of the concept of agroecology among the population, to raise collective awareness; identification of outlets for agroecological products; production and marketing of agroecological products; and the development of agrochemicals.
outlets for agroecological products; the production and dissemination of technical itineraries of previously identified agroecological best practices; and the development of synergies with training schools in the North and Far North regions.
The participants thus launched the initiative to create a regional NEPAC in the Sahel zone. NEPAC’s vice-president went on to encourage Sahelian stakeholders to join en masse. For him, “in addition to the food self-sufficiency of small producers, the other concern is their income levels”, said Louis Nkembi. NEPAC is therefore an opportunity for farmers in this part of the country to secure stable and fair incomes, despite production difficulties.
- Sharon Maché
